The first book out, perhaps in a week or two, to narrate the daunting story of the New York Giants Super Bowl championship with all on the road, may well begin in Raymond James Stadium. It should. It did.

Remember?

It was the first round of the NFC playoffs, out at Raymond James Stadium. It was sold out. It was a perfect day. Limos were all over. That is always true when the Giants play anywhere.

The sun shone brightly. Buccaneer fans were fired up. Their team was a slight favorite. Home field and that sort of thing. And, the Bucs seemed - to most - to be playing a tish better. The Giants weren’t that much. But NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was there. It was the start of the playoffs and the Super Bowl will be played in RJS next February ‘09. It was a glorious circumstance, especially for the home towners, who to many seemed to have been playing a bit better than the Giants. Not only that, the Giants would not just be playing this game away, but all remaining playoff games.

Jeff Garcia, on the senior side, was the Buc quarterback, Eli Manning, younger of the Manning quarterbacks and perhaps a weak link in the Giant armor, would QB for the big city team. He could be had, many thought.

The Giants moved ahead 14-7 by the half. But, Tampa had not been outplayed or outhustled. They were in it, some thought they had the momentum at the intermission and they were going to get the ball after the half. Good, the optimimists, said.

The Bucs had Micheal Spurlock back to receive deep on one side. He was a pretty new guy, a fast, big runner from Mississippi picked up this early season for such duty. He’d returned some kickoffs, need to say here, one for a touchdown, not a strength of the Bucs over the years. Well, Spurlock got the kickoff, shot up the sidelines on a strong return to near the 40-yard line, was hit, went down, and fumbled. Yep, he fumbled. Earlier in this season, Spurlock had returned a kickoff for a touchdown, the first in history during a real season. How about that for a turn of events? The Bucs have had their share of times like those.

New York took the ball and did not stop until they had won the Super Bowl in Phoenix. Nice, eh. The Giants won in Tampa and in Dallas (Cowboys) and in Green Bay. They did it all on the road. Special treat. It is too bad the late Giant boss, Wellington Mara, who helped Tampa in all of its bids for Super Bowls, was not there. But, he was here to see his Giants win the Super Bowl in 1991. He was our friend. The Giants have always been our friends, in all of our pursuits. No, they were far from the only ones, but now they are in the news.

Hardly a Super Bowl of the future will pass that the coach of one or the other teams will not hold the Giants up as examples of the zenith.

They will be called upon to exemplify winning on the road.

They will be extolled as underdogs who could win it all.

They will be held as examples of a winner with a young quarterback.

They will be praised as a team of defense first.

And, they will be held up as proof it can be done.

They will be used as examples of proof that a team can start the season slowly (losing their first two games), gain momentum throughout the season, and win on the road against the odds - as they did at Tampa, Dallas, Green Bay and Phoenix.

Well, those are all pretty good arguments, are they not?